Page 65 - Cyberculture and New Media

56 Knowledge Building and Motivations in Wikipedia
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five contrasting dimensions

(1) professional versus nonprofessional participation, (2)
constructive, confrontational, and vandalistic participation; (3)
continuous versus one-time participation, (4) anonymous
versus identifiable participation, (5) content contribution,
community involvement, and (silent) participation in the form
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of lurking.

Considering participation as a one-dimensional construct might limit
our ability to seize the motivational factors driven Wikipedians. Nevertheless,
we can measure the subjective Wikipedia’s perceptions regarding their
motivations (rather than measuring their actual performance). In order to
examine Wikipedians’ motivations to participate, we will use a Wikipedia
survey based on the theoretical framework of a user-centered approach
named “Uses and Gratifications” perspective.
Uses and Gratifications is one of the established theoretical
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frameworks for examining media users. Media Uses and Gratifications
research investigate how people use the media to gratify their needs. This
theory is based on the assumption that users are active and goal oriented in
their interactions with the media.
Uses and Gratifications theory established originally in the mid 20th
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century. Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch expressed its more “formal”
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definitions in the mid seventies. In recent years, following the rapid growth
of internet users related studies; many researchers continue to utilize the Uses
and Gratifications perspective. Perhaps one of the reasons for its continuing
popularity is its compatibility with new media affordances, which enable
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more flexibility in performing interactions among users.
Traditional studies of uses and gratifications tend to emphasize five
generic clusters of needs the media could fulfill:
(1) Cognitive needs- represent the intrinsic desire for information acquisition
for knowledge and understanding.
(2) Affective needs - are related to emotional experiences, and intrinsic desire
for pleasure, entertainment and aesthetics.
(3) Integrative (personal) needs - are affiliation needs where the individual
want to be part of a group, and to have a sense of belonging.
(4) Integrative (social) needs - derive from individual’s desire to appear
credible, be perceived as confident, and have high self-esteem.
(5) Diversion needs - relate to the need for escape and diversion from
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problems and routines.
Most New media studies tend to follow the traditional Uses and
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Gratifications categories. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective,